Solon calls for Palparan’s protection to ensure justice

Fugitive Philippine Army Maj.Gen. Jovito Palparan gestures during a news conference at the National Bureau of Investigation following his capture by NBI agents Tuesday, Aug.12, 2014 in Manila, Philippines. AP

MANILA, Philippines— A lawmaker and author of the bill calling for the construction of VIP detention cells for high-profile detainees said arrested retired General Jovito Palparan should be protected in a special cell to ensure that justice will be served.

“He is high risk because the risk is in his person,” ACT CIS Rep. Samuel Pagdilao said in an interview on Tuesday.

“It’s a concern for authorities to consider that he will be given a detention center that would ensure his protection while undergoing trial,” Pagdilao added, noting that Palparan should be detained in a military detention center.

Pagdilao, a former police director and former chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detention Group, said justice could only be served if Palparan, tagged by militant activists as the “Butcher” for allegedly ordering the enforced disappearances of activists during the Arroyo administration, lives through his trial.

“The best way for justice to be served is to make the person facing charges undergo trial, and that trial find its logical end, so that the judge hearing both sides will be able to rule who is guilty or not,” Pagdilao said in a press conference.

Pagdilao said should the accused require medical attention, he or she should not be denied of this to ensure his or her life while undergoing trial.

Pagdilao’s proposed measure seeks the establishment of a high-profile crime detention center under the Bureau of Corrections.

The bill would cover individuals accused of nonbailable offenses except those involving illegal drugs, specifically incumbent or former public officials or appointees accused in high-profile cases or those who have “attracted publicity by reason of the relative position of the parties in society, cases imbued with public interest, or cases that involve national security and safety.”

Dubbed the “high-profile center,” the special facility would be managed by a chief penal superintendent.

Palparan was arrested early Tuesday morning in Manila as he faces an arrest warrant issued by the Malolos regional trial court on charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.  He went into hiding after the arrest warrant was issued in December 2011.